Joel Richardson, an end-times author and evangelist to the Islamic peoples in the Mideast, has a great message that plainly lays out what specifically needs to happen that immediately triggers the 7-year tribulation. Here are his words, in summary.
Mr. Richardson’s first concern is that today’s well-known prophets of
end-times should not “cry wolf” for a sign that is not Scriptural, or not a singular
sign of the end times. Yes, Matthew 24 speaks of wars in the end times. Yes, it
speaks of earthquakes and famines. None of these are accurate signs of the last
seven years because they happen frequently. You cannot, every time a rocket is
sent off between Israel and its Islamic neighbor, suddenly call out “this is now
the last days.” That’s why it will be “crying wolf;” wars in the Mideast, and
natural disasters, happen, sadly, too frequently. On the other hand, the Scriptural
sign Richardson mentions is different; it happens only once.
Secondly, the trigger sign will be
world news. We should give thanks to God for being generous and providing such
a clear, easy sign—that’s because He loves His children, and does not want us
to endure those terrible times in the dark.
Since Peter warned that “scoffers and mockers” would come in those days,
then we have an important responsibility: We need to believe Scripture so
thoroughly that when this sign happens, we will boldly tell our neighbors and
family—perhaps a few will get saved—both in this life and even eternally. That
means we don’t go to them with uncertainly and say, “I have a theory…” Nor do
we boast and say, “God told me….” But we say, “Scripture says this is the sign
that begins the last seven years. With your permission, let me show you, and
you can do your own prayer to see if God confirms you about it.” Perhaps, God
will bless you so that you will see people’s lives—including their eternal
lives—saved from death.
Keep in mind, the last days there will be miracles that Satan does. See
Matthew 24:24:
24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and
wonders to deceive, if possible,
even the elect.
We must be firmly in God’s Word, so as to not to look at the miracles, and follow
Satan and end up slain by this powerful deception. With knowledge about the end
times, we will not be lost, so as to follow Satan unwittingly, even to think
that we are already in the last seven years when we are not. Such a confusion simply
adds validity to the world’s scoffing. Even as our nation gets worse,
even if profound calamity struck our nation tomorrow, there is no call for prophesying
something unless it lines up with Scripture. Richardson says it doesn’t
matter if you have an excellent prophetic track record; if you are not
subjecting your personal ‘hearing from God’ to the clear guidance in Scripture,
you are in falsehood. You need to study the Scriptures in context first, before
you speak prophetically.
If you are a “pre-trib” believer (thinking the rapture occurs before the
seven years), it wouldn’t hurt to read other excellent authors’ comments too,
that believe differently than you do. Accept no doctrine about the end times
without proof. To believe just like your denomination is not a guarantee of
accuracy (there are many denominations with many eschatologies). It is actually laziness. Hard study is worth
it, when you are gambling your eternal life.
Now to his main message, the events in Scripture that need to happen just
before the 7-year final period and the Lord’s return. First, to those who
say “it’s impossible to figure it out from Scripture,” he says, think of
history: Scripture laid out lots of data prior to Jesus’ birth, and it WAS
noticed by many, including the Magi (see my blog on how the Magi could tell His
time of birth by the position of the stars—they were astronomers as
well). On the other hand, it was those that relied on the “traditions of
men” who failed to see Scriptural signs. Or those who had too much pride to
accept the birth of a ‘poor nobody;’ or hearing prophecies from someone that
the rabbis had not taught.
The point is, Scripture is full of prophecies about the future, just like Scripture
was full of prophecies about when Jesus was born. Much of it is fantastic
symbols, BUT much of it is plain and easy to understand too. God does it
because He knows that we worry about the future. In those terrible last seven
years, God understands we want to know, “How soon can we be free of this
sadness and persecution?”
Now this is a good time to tell you: Mr. Richardson’s belief is that Jesus
returns AFTER the tribulation, not before. (See my series of three blogs
that also proves that point.) That subject is not the point of this paper. Our
purpose is, whatever you believe, you would clearly like to know when
the 7 years is set to begin. For those of you who are pre-tribulation
rapturists, you still want to know when those seven years will begin because
you expect to get raptured at that point. For the rest of us, who believe Jesus
won’t return until the seven years are over, there is another concern: We need
to beware of miscounting when the 7 years began, which would make us start
looking for Jesus ahead of time. An example would be, thinking that the “Abraham
Accords” that Mr. Trump signed five years ago was the beginning of the seven
years. That’s not so, simply because Mr. Trump cannot be the “little horn” or
the Antichrist. Scripture elsewhere proves that; Look for Gog and Magog, and
the North country in Scripture. Oh well. Another blog, another time. Jesus
talks about such a result of that misfiring in Mark 13:5-6:
And Jesus,
answering them, began to say: “Take heed
that no one deceives you. 6 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and will
deceive many
So let’s talk about the sign that triggers the seven years. Note that there
is one warning we get: there is a single sign, easy to find, that
flashes us, giving us the exact date when the 7 years begins. If I
successfully prove it to you, when that day comes, you will be eager, as I am,
to set aside a special 7-year calendar to record the passage of each day, each
month, as His arrival gets closer and closer. We may not have to wait the
entire 7 years before Christ comes, see Matthew 24:22:
For then there will be great tribulation, such as has
not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall
be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no
flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be
shortened.
The seven years will pass quickly, I suspect. Near the end, look to the
heavens: He will arrive in the clouds! Are you ready for an eternity in heaven?
If you, instead, reject the faith
required, and seek your own way, how do you know if you are deceived from the
miracles that Satan may do (Matthew 24:23-24), and take the satanic mark, in
order to survive in this life—but it sends you to hell in the next life? Revelation
14:9-10 says:
Then a third angel followed them, saying with a
loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and
receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he
himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which
is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He
shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy
angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
That horrible thought, alone, will help you endure the 7 years of constant
turbulence and danger, hanging on to your Savior for dear life, literally. From
what Mr. Richardson has heard and has seen on media, many people believe that
we are already IN the final 7-year period leading up to the return of Jesus, or
are just about ready to step into those days.
I’m sorry if I held you in suspense so long, but here goes. Look at the
Antichrist first. In the beginning of the 7
years, he is called in Scripture the “little horn.” (Daniel 7-8). This
suggests he is prominent, but not yet a worldwide dictator, as he moves up to,
later. His real goals are not revealed until the Middle of the 7-year
period. But he deceives people at first, pretending to be a friend of
Jews. Then he earns their trust enough to swing a 7-year covenant with
Israel to protect them, and Israel agrees. So evidently he already had
some capabilities as either a military or political leader to be able to do
that. (Hint: He belongs to a military power). Scripture, though, calls this 7-year
covenant a “covenant with death,” (Isaiah 28:18), because his real motive is to
eventually slaughter as many Jews (and Christians) as he can.
****That covenant is the key to countdown; as
soon as the covenant is made, we begin the 7 years. Then
it’s time to grab your 7-year calendars.
The covenant is not in secret; to get Israel and her Muslim neighbors to
stop fighting would be an achievement worldwide. I suspect Israel had become militarily backed
into a corner, or else why would they seek an outsider, particularly one who is
only moderately well-known, for protection? They have performed on their
own—with weaponry from the U.S.--most of the time. Then is the time for you
to give Gospel warnings far and wide.
The best Biblical proof is Daniel 9:27:
Then he shall confirm a covenant with many
for one week; But in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice
and offering.
And on the wing of abominations shall be
one who makes desolate,
Even until the consummation, which is
determined, Is poured out on the desolate.”
The “many,” the beneficiary of the covenant, refers to the Jewish leaders,
since the word immediately connects up with “an end to sacrifice and offering,”
a Jewish custom. This also means Jews will have rebuilt the Temple for
those sacrifices, in Jerusalem, that he will later cut off--so if you hear that
the Temple is rebuilding, you know you may live to see the end times.
Note that the Scripture verses above refer to “one week.” The Hebrew
term is neutral—it doesn’t say “one week.” It really says, “one seven.” But
seven of what? In my end-times blogs I explain how the seven has to be a seven
of years. The Jews perceive “the little horn” as a friend, but he is fooling
everybody for 3-1/2 years. Then he betrays the nation of Israel by coming to
Jerusalem, and performing an “abomination” in their sacrificial area of the
Temple. What’s that? Antiochus Epiphanes, in 167 BC, sacrificed a
pig on a Jewish altar; that’s an abomination. Perhaps he sets up an idol to
himself in the Jewish Temple. So, starting from the middle of the 7
years, he will kill as many Jews—and Christians—as possible. This exposes
his real purpose. So his true nature is not revealed until “the middle
of the week,” or the middle of the 7-years. Or, after 3-1/2 years. So for the
first 3-1/2 years, even though he grows in power, things won’t get horribly
bad. Just bad. With many wars, earthquakes, famine and pestilence. Believe it
or not, that’s not as bad as it will get in the last 3-1/2 years. “Pestilence,”
by the way, refers to devastating plagues or epidemics.
There are a lot of things we need to do for preparation, as outlined in
Scripture and in several blogs. We cannot do a rebellion against the ‘little
horn,” knowing that he will become the Antichrist, and seek to kill us. He may
be censoring Christians, and soon. With sophisticated tracking devices, he can
easily arrest them. The only thing ever recommended for all of us in New
Testament Scripture is, Flee. God makes that clear to those Jews living in
Jerusalem when that fateful “revealing” day has arrived. He will immediately turn
and lock down the city and slay as many Jews as he can. What is God’s advice?
In Matthew 24:15ff, Jesus mentions the same thing as Daniel; the abomination of
desolation:
“Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by
Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him
understand), 16 “then
let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go
down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go
back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to
those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in
winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation,
such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor
ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no
flesh would be saved; but for the [c]elect’s sake those days will be
shortened.
I believe that the real importance of Christians knowing these things, is
because we will NOT have raptured to escape all this, but will have to endure
the tribulation that will follow this covenant. Is it not best to prepare
your mind for a worst-case scenario? That way, if the rapture is before the
tribulation, great; if it’s after, you will be prepared ahead of time. By putting
all your birds in one basket, as it were, what happens if you are wrong? Then
you will be disappointed and unprepared. Many people, I suspect, will be so upset,
that they will be easy prey, in their confusion and discouragement, to follow a
satanic false prophet, even a false Christ.
In conclusion, let us never abandon Jesus. He wins; the devil loses. In Him
we have heaven; in the devil we have hell. Read your Bible. Stay close to a
church that follows Scripture. Love your Lord every day, despite the miseries.
You are to reflect Him.
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